Rays down on the farm August 22: Hot Rods shut out again 2: Electric Boogaloo

I realized that I neglected to mention Andrew Toles returning to the field with the GCL Rays this week.  In two games, he's 0/7 with four strikeouts.  He missed a lot of time, and it's going to take some more of that to get back on track.

If the baseball rumor folks are to be believed, the A's offered Addison Russell for David Price earlier in trade season before they sent him to the Cubs.  He just completed a series against Montgomery where he went 7/24 with three doubles and three home runs.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (68-64)

Durham was a pitch away from being no-hit in their 5-2 loss to Norfolk.  In the ninth, Hak-Ju Lee walked and Cole Figueroa reached on errors, and with two outs, Mikie Mahtook doubled to break up the no-hitter and shutout.  Tides starter Mike Wright struck out 11 in 8.2 innings.

Nate Karns struggled from the first pitch.  After the first two batters of the game reached base, he allowed a three run home run to Futures Game participant Dariel Alvarez, and that would prove to be the only offense Norfolk needed.  Karns allowed all five Norfolk runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks in five innings with four strikeouts.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (26-34)

After falling behind 3-0, Montgomery responded quickly in their 8-4 win over Tennessee.  Just two batters after the Smokies took that 3-0 lead in the second, Richie Shaffer hit a two run home run to cut the deficit to one, and he came up with another big hit an inning later.  Taylor Motter's sac fly tied the game, and Shaffer's two run single gave the Biscuits the lead.  Luke Maile's double scored two more.  Shaffer and Maile each had two hits.

Victor Mateo struggled early, but he hung in there to pitch six innings.  He allowed all four Tennessee runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk with in two strikeouts.  After he left, three relievers combined to keep the Smokies off the board with two strikeouts and four baserunners allowed.

Class-A Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (29-27)

Charlotte was off.

Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods (26-33)

After getting one hit Tuesday and three Wednesday, Bowling Green found a happy medium with two in their 1-0 loss to Great Lakes.  The hits belonged to Willy Adames and Pat Blair, and Adames reached base three times.  Jacob Faria took the tough loss, allowing an unearned run on six hits and a walk in five innings with four strikeouts.  Hot Rod hitters struck out 16 times.

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (43-22)

A six run fourth inning sprung Hudson Valley to a 7-3 win over Aberdeen.  In that fourth inning, the Renegades sent 11 men to the plate.  Hunter Lockwood drove in the first run on an RBI triple, and he scored on Bralin Jackson's single.  They would go on to add four more runs, and all of them were earned.  Lockwood hit two triples, and Grant Kay had three more hits.

Against the league's worst offense, Jose Alonzo had a solid start.  He allowed the second inning run, but that would be it on five hits and a walk in five innings with four strikeouts.  Darren Fischer relieved him, but he could only record one out as he allowed a home run and two runs total that pulled the IronBirds a little closer.

Rookie Princeton Rays (33-25)

Four Princeton pitchers combined to shut down Greeneville in a 1-0 win over the Astros.  Princeton starter Yonny Chirinos was actually outpitched by his counterpart, and he wasn't able to last long enough to get credit for the win.  He struck out six and allowed three hits and three walks in four scoreless innings.  Freddy Alvarez struck out four in three innings, and Bret Dahlson and Tomas Michelson combined for the final two innings.

The Rays got their only run in the fifth inning.  Riley Unroe led off with a single, and after consecutive strikeouts, Hec Montes' two out single scored Unroe.  Montes led Princeton with three of their eight hits.  Thomas Milone struck out four times in four at-bats.

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (28-26)

The GCL Rays continued to fade from contention in their 8-3 loss to the GCL Red Sox.  The game was tied at one after the first inning, but the Red Sox rattled off seven consecutive runs to put the game away early.  Three Rays pitchers combined to allow 10 hits and nine walks while not striking out anyone.  Jose Alvarado, Alberto Casanas and Spencer Moran all allowed two earned runs.

After the first inning run, only three Rays batters reached base for seven straight innings.  An error in the ninth allowed them to add two more runs.  They only had four hits total, and Cade Gotta was the only Ray to reach base more than once.

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Star of the day- Once in a while, Shaffer has one of those games where he looks like a first rounder.

Goat of the day- Bowling Green outhit Durham and still scored fewer runs.

Today's games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham v. Gwinnett 7:05 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Alex Colome (6-5, 3.68) v. Cody Martin (6-7, 3.51)

Montgomery @ Pensacola 7:30 PM (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Mike Colla (7-12, 4.60) v. Daniel Corcino* (10-11, 4.13)

Charlotte v. Fort Myers 6:39 PM (Radio stream)
Blake Snell* (5-5, 3.92) v. Matt Tomshaw (10-5, 3.47)

Bowling Green v. Great Lakes 8:05 PM (Radio stream)
Bruediln Suero (4-3, 4.31) v. Scott Barlow (6-5, 4.30)

Hudson Valley @ Connecticut 7:05 PM (Radio stream)
TBA v. Josh Heddinger (0-2, 4.02)

Princeton v. Greeneville 7:05 PM
Hyrum Formo (2-1, 4.58) v. Brock Dykxhoorn (2-3, 5.13)

GCL Rays v. GCL Orioles 12 PM
TBA v. TBA

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Gwinnett Braves
59-73 (3rd in IL South)
Offense: 558 R (10th) .718 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.43 ERA (10th) 1.50 WHIP (12th)
Top 30 Prospects: C Christian Bethancourt (2), RHP Cody Martin (11), 3B Edward Salcedo (12), OF Joey Terdoslavich (15), RHP Shae Simmons (16), OF Todd Cunningham (23), RHP Aaron Northcraft (25), RHP Juan Jaime (27), RHP James Hoyt (30)

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Cincinnati)
24-36 (5th in SL South)
Offense: 527 R (9th) .696 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.00 ERA (7th) 1.38 WHIP (8th)
Top 30 Prospects: RHP Robert Stephenson (1), OF Jesse Winker (4), OF Yorman Rodriguez (5), RHP Michael Lorenzen (6), RHP Ben Lively (9), RHP Daniel Corcino (13), 3B Seth Mejias-Brean (21)

Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)
35-24 (3rd in FSL South)
Offense: 660 R (1st) .723 OPS (2nd)
Pitching: 3.33 ERA (4th) 1.32 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Max Kepler (11), OF Adam Brett Walker (17), SS Niko Goodrum (26), RHP Tyler Jones (27), RHP Zack Jones (28), C Stuart Turner (30)

Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles)
28-31 (T-4th in MWL East)
Offense: 527 R (13th) .667 OPS (14th)
Pitching: 3.58 ERA (6th) 1.28 WHIP (7th)
Top 30 Prospects: OF Jacob Scavuzzo (15), RHP Zach Bird (21), RHP Victor Arano (29)

Connecticut Tigers
34-31 (2nd in Stedler)
Offense: 293 R (3rd) .697 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.11 ERA (3rd) 1.21 WHIP (3rd)
Top 30 Prospects: 3B Steven Fuentes (28), OF Derek Hill, 3B Joey Pankake

Greeneville Astros
29-29 (4th in APP West)
Offense: 269 R (6th) .664 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 3.35 ERA (3rd) 1.34 WHIP (6th)
Top 30 Prospects: LHP Reymin Guduan (28), RHP Brock Dykxhoorn

GCL Orioles
27-26 (3rd in GCL South)
Offense: 173 R (16th) .610 OPS (15th)
Pitching: 3.10 ERA (2nd) 1.20 WHIP (2nd)
Top 30 Prospects: C Jonah Heim (26)